Promoting IDPs' and Women's Voices in Post-Conflict Georgia

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARYInternally displaced persons (IDPs) in Georgia, many living in protracted displacement since the early1990s, face a number of challenges in participating in politics and peacebuilding. Using a human-rightsand gender-based approach, this report assesses the extent to which displaced women and men areinvolved in policymaking regarding their needs and interests. We focus on policies that promote thedurable solutions as defined in the UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement: return,resettlement, and local integration.Avenues of ParticipationStructures and processes supporting IDPs’ participation certainly exist, particularly through civil society,in which women are disproportionately more active. Policymaking has also become more inclusive, butsignificant improvements are needed in implementing policies to ensure IDPs’ effective participationand enable them to choose among the durable solutions. A main challenge for achieving this objectivelies in connecting locally-based problems with a coherent national policy approach that IDPs havehelped to formulate.Factors Influencing EngagementInterconnected psychosocial, political, institutional and economic issues limit IDPs’ engagement indecision-making and public life more generally. For example, shifting gender roles have affected howmen and women deal with displacement, creating burdens and opportunities for participation of bothgenders. Political divisions within IDP communities also pose barriers, in addition to a lack of consistentpolitical will, institutional capacity, and coordination among key stakeholders. Finally, poverty canpromote a vicious cycle, hindering participation while the lack of political voice also serves as a keyobstacle to promoting efforts that address this marginalization.RecommendationsIDPs as rights-holders and the state and other relevant duty bearers hold different levels ofresponsibility in addressing this situation. We conclude with recommendations for the Government ofGeorgia, international organizations, NGOs, and IDP communities can enhance IDPs’ voice in policiesthat affect them. Systematic inclusion of this group, improved governance, and increased cooperationamong stakeholders can support IDPs in becoming more active individually and organizing collectively toadvocate for their needs and interests. These efforts thereby promote more inclusive governance andpeacebuilding processes in Georgian society.5
INTRODUCTIONAugust 2012 marks the 20 th anniversary of the open conflict between the Republic of Georgia and thebreakaway region of Abkhazia, which led to the displacement of approximately 251,000 internallydisplaced persons. 1 Another wave of 40,000 people fled the Upper Kodori Gorge in Abkhazia in 1998.The conflict over Tskhinvali region/South Ossetia also displaced about 60,000 people in the early 1990sand an additional 26,000 IDPs after the August 2008 war. IDPs, comprising about 5% of the Georgianpopulation, remain the group in society most affected by Georgia’s frozen conflicts.International human rights standards mandate the Georgian government, together with civil society andthe international community, to ensure that IDPs are able to exercise their right to participate in publiclife. In particular, according to the United Nations Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, IDPs havea right to participate in decision-making regarding their specific needs and interests as IDPs. Whileprogress has been made, IDPs continue to face difficulties in participating in civic life – with some ofthese difficulties being unique to IDPs, and others shared with the Georgian population as a whole. Theweb of factors influencing IDPs’ political participation must be more fully understood in order for IDPs tobe able to realize this right.The Women’s Political Resource Center (WPRC) has tasked the SIPA consulting team with assessingthese factors through a gendered lens in order to see how displaced women and men function in publiclife and the political arena. The consulting team conducted qualitative research in Georgia and theUnited States, employing human rights-based and gender-based approaches to analyze issues ofgovernance in Georgia within the context of binding international law and legal norms.The final report presents the landscape of avenues and processes of women and men IDPs’ participationin policymaking around the durable solutions of return, resettlement, and local integration. However,several psychosocial, institutional, political and economic factors significantly limit opportunities forIDPs’ engagement. Women IDPs in particular, although being quite active in civil society, in most casesface additional challenges in being politically active as a result of pressures to conform to traditionalroles. This report contributes to the understanding of IDPs’ engagement in Georgian civic life byexamining these factors, with the aim of expanding opportunities for displaced women and men toparticipate in governance and peace processes.The report concludes with recommendations for the Georgian Government, civil society actors,international donors, and the IDP community in order to empower action in pursuit of these aims.1 Georgia. Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Accommodation and Refugees of Georgia.“IDP Issues – General Information.” Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Accommodation andRefugees of Georgia, N.d. Web. 30 Nov 2011.6
Page 2 and 3: Promoting IDPs’ and Women’s Voi
Page 4 and 5: CONTENTSAcronyms and Abbreviations
Page 8 and 9: THE WOMEN’S POLITICAL RESOURCE CE
Page 10 and 11: fair reporting on politically sensi
Page 12 and 13: people-to-people diplomacy efforts
Page 14 and 15: and the Guiding Principles, in Febr
Page 16 and 17: an effort to address these stereoty
Page 18 and 19: The identities, perceptions, and re
Page 20 and 21: even IDPs themselves. The HRBA seek
Page 22 and 23: Karaleti settlement, and Potskho-Et
Page 24 and 25: displacement differently, with men
Page 26 and 27: on an equal footing with men in for
Page 28 and 29: The Ministry for Internally Displac
Page 30 and 31: Defender’s Office) and leave no r
Page 32 and 33: prominent national level IDP NGO wo
Page 34 and 35: in the past but none have yet to be
Page 36 and 37: Grassroots Peacebuilding EffortsCiv
Page 38 and 39: esettlement and local integration h
Page 40 and 41: ability to contribute to the new Ac
Page 42 and 43: Women convened a working group to a
Page 44 and 45: were involved, in addition to “wo
Page 46 and 47: towards addressing this population
Page 48 and 49: waves. 224 A Conciliation Resources
Page 50 and 51: governing shelter requirements. 238
Page 52 and 53: esults of eviction on those who did
Page 54 and 55: FINDINGSSIPA team member Drilon Gas
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unique opportunities exist for them
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an important opportunity for women
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early morning…when I was going to
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our office to investigate these iss
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on this? It’s impossible.” 322
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high levels of unemployment and pov
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groups do not differentiate between
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funding and influence to implement
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een in operation for two years or l
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organization, and highlighted that
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The Education System’s Influence
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system has an important role to pla
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Political FactorsMany elements of t
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international organizations working
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uling party. 433 There were some si
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especially highly-influential broad
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ationale behind the government’s
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international working for a major d
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Also, according to a World Bank rep
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willing to challenge authorities th
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The lack of narrative connecting po
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RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE GEORGIAN GO
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the government also needs to commit
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‣ Continue to support and expand
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‣ Address male IDP needs (Immedia
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The campaign should have a face, su
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APPENDIX BList of IntervieweesLocal
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Kristy KellyLincoln MitchellLawrenc
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Article 10 - Non-discrimination in
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Principle 18.1 - Adequate standard
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Esaiashvili, Mariam (Official, Mini
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Lanskoy, Miriam and Giorgi Areshidz
Page 120:
Transparency International Georgia.
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Promoting IDPs' and Women's Voices in Post-Conflict Georgia

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